The Beginning of the End
by notenoughpotter
Summary: After Elena's death, she's forced to make a choice she never wanted. That's when she learned she needed to die before her life could really begin. AU - TVDS3 - present Sneak peek! For full version, please follow this link. /s/11189184/1/Half-life


The rush of water filled Elena's ears, and an overwhelming sense of deja-vu threatened to overwhelm her. The past few minutes played through her mind in agonizingly slow motion.

She'd been on the phone with…Damon? No. Caroline.

Then Matt was slamming his fists against the steering wheel.

And then... and then?

Elena struggled to open her eyes, but her eyelids had never been so heavy. She wasn't in the truck any longer. She couldn't be. She was cold and wet and trapped in the darkness.

Trapped. Yes, she was trapped. Water enveloped her. It wasn't a bad dream. It wasn't her mind playing tricks on her. This was real. Her eyes fought against the desire to close and stay closed. She needed to wake up. She had to wake up. If she didn't…if she didn't, something bad would happen.

She won the battle against her eyelids and instantly wished she hadn't.

Matt was lying slumped over the wheel - unconscious but breathing. The cab of the truck rapidly filled with the same tepid water that stole her parents from her almost exactly two years ago. The bubble of air at the roof of the truck was rapidly dwindling away.

"Matt. Matt!" Elena gulped some of the precious air left in the cab in her struggle to wake him. They'd been friends since they were both in diapers, and he was here because of her. Just like her parents had died in this spot…because of her.

No one else was dying because of her. It stopped here.

"Matt." Elena took one last full breath as the water level rose to cover her lips and mouth and eyes. How long could someone go without oxygen? Since he was unconscious, he didn't know to hold his breath. He gagged and gave a weak cough.

Panic gripped at her.

How many times had she almost died in the past year? In the past few months? In the past few _days_?

If she could breathe, she'd give a grim laugh. She'd taken on a vampire with a handful of pencils and survived, yet her demise would be drowning in a truck. But somehow it was still fitting, as she should have died here two years ago. And this time, she'd be dying alongside the best friend anyone could ask for... unless-

Unless she could get out of the seatbelt and get out of the truck. Matt was the lifeguard of the pair, but Elena had always been a strong swimmer – at least before the accident. After the accident, well, no one had questioned the fact that pretty much she avoided swimming altogether.

Her fingers fumbled with the buckle. Damn it, Matt's ancient truck!

This thing had always been cranky. This wasn't the time for the truck to work against them. Seatbelts were supposed to ensure their safety – not seal their fate in the watery depths.

Her lungs burned, and her eyes filled with tears. Maybe that was simply the water swirling around her head. The pounding in her chest kept time with her fingertips as she struggled to free Matt. Maybe if she could get him out, they wouldn't both have to die.

Just when she thought it was time to give up, just when the cab of the truck swam in even murkier darkness, just when her chest threatened to explode – something was outside the window.

Not just something. Someone.

For an instant, she looked for a swirl of coal-black hair. But the shape had a face... Stefan's. Of course.

The door flew off the truck with a soundless shriek. His arms reached for her, but she stopped him, pointing to Matt. Stefan's eyes widened, and if they'd been where they could breathe, he'd probably try to argue. Right now, though, she could only get the message to him through the force of her will.

He hesitated for half-a-heartbeat. Then he wrenched Matt from behind the wheel. Elena wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. Matt wouldn't die tonight – not because he'd been trying to get her to safety. And that was good.

Her fingers and toes started to tingle, and a fuzzy feeling swam inside her. No one else would die.

The thought swirled inside her with the same intensity of the brackish water flowing around her head. No one else would die.

But they would. As long as Alaric was alive, her friends would be in danger. Caroline. Stefan. Bonnie's mom...

Damon.

Her heart skipped a beat, and it wasn't because she was drowning. In a strange moment of clarity, their last conversation played out in her mind, and she remembered the hesitant tone in his voice. He said he'd see her again. Soon.

He'd been lying.

God, why hadn't she realized it then? Realized it when it might have mattered. But it still could. They were all in danger as long as Alaric was alive. And Alaric would be alive until…

Elena's ears started to ring. Her heart wanted to explode. She wasn't going to make it. Stefan should be back in mere seconds. And if he made it back to her, they'd all still be in danger. She couldn't do it. She couldn't let them be in danger.

Not when she could stop him.

She squeezed her hands into such tight fists, she thought her skin would tear. She closed her eyes tightly. It sounded strange, but she didn't want to see death coming. And it was coming, because she was inviting it.

She opened her mouth and took in a deep gulp of water.

Mercifully, everything around her melted into the blackness around her.

* * *

Author's note - This is only the beginning…of the end.

I'm pleased to announce my new writing partnership with LastDayOfMagic. For more of this story, please search for the story "Half-Life" by LastDayOfTVD.

Hope to see y'all there!


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